Programs for computers are embodied in electronic media such as semiconductor chips, or stored in magnetic media such as tape, flexible (so called "floppy") disks or "hard" disks. For microcomputers, the kinds of devices most often used for personal computing in home, school and office settings, disks are provided and used in diskettes, assemblies of a disk-shaped plastic substrate coated with a metallic oxide medium capable of retaining a magnetically deposited message (the actual "disk"), and a surrounding sleeve or jacket within which the disk can be rotated ("driven"). The sleeve or jacket typically has a central opening through which a drive mechanism may contact the disk to rotate it, and access openings through which a magnetic head may contact the disk to "write" on or erase from it.
Diskettes are notoriously fragile, and their fragility reflects itself in the reliability of the systems in which they are used. Rough handling, particularly bending, can affect their magnetic coatings and interfere with the critical mechanical and magnetic interactions among the disk, sleeve, disk drive mechanism and magnetic head(s). An important consideration, therefore, in storing disks, is minimizing the potential for physical damage.
This invention is directed to apparatus for storing diskettes, and more particularly, for holding diskettes in a secure manner and protecting them from undue wear and tear. The present invention allows substantial numbers of diskettes to be stored in a compact, space efficient way using inexpensive and easily handled loose leaf binders. Another aspect of the present invention is the positive mechanical interaction between the stored diskettes and their holder, so that the diskettes are prevented from accidentally falling from the holder regardless of the position of the holder.